Room air conditioner



June 10, 1969 O A. H. EBERHART 3,448,590

ROOM AIR CONDITIONER Filed Feb. 16, 1967 Sheet of 2 FIG. I. FIG. 2.

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ROOM AIR CONDITIONER June 10, 1969 Filed Feb. 16, 1967 Sheet 2 of 2 JGIL I...

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United States Patent 3,448,590 ROOM AIR CONDITIONER Arthur H. Eberhart,Hilliard, Ohio, assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation,Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Feb. 16, 1967, Ser.No. 616,574 Int. Cl. F24b 1/02; E06b 7/02 US. Cl. 62-262 6 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Background of the invention and descriptionof the prior art In the eiforts to improve room air conditioners of theso-called window-mount type, substantial attention has been devoted toreducing and isolating the noise generated by the unit, and to reducingthe obstruction of the window presented by the air conditioner.Variously shaped room air conditioners have accordingly been devised.For example, some units have had a generally saddle shape in which theexterior and interior sections of the unit are isolated from each otherby the intermediate building wall below the window. Other units havebeen provided with an inverted saddle shape in which the lower sash of awindow drops down into a trough between the inner and outer sections.Still other designs have attempted to remove substantially all of theunit from the inside of the room by using an inverted L-shape in whichthe long leg of the L depends outside of the building from the shorthorizontal leg clamped below the lower edge of the bottom window sash.Each arrangement possesses both advantages and disadvantages withrespect to noise isolation, window obstruction, ease of mounting, andother factors. However, each has the disadvantage of discharging theconditioned air into the room from a relatively low level rather than arelatively high level.

A unit providing a relatively high level discharge is disclosed in myUS. Patent 2,519,086. However, the arrangement there shown alsopossessed several disadvantages such as having all of the noisegenerating parts in the window opening or in the room, substantiallyobstructing the window opening, and providing interference with themouting of drapes or curtains.

Summary of the invention Briefly, an air conditioner according to theinvention includes a cabinet having the general shape of an invertedsaddle which seats upwardly against a window head jamb with the innerand outer sections above the window and on opposite sides of the wall.Additionally, the lower face of the inner section main portion islocated above the head jamb height so that with a relatively shallowvertical extension portion from the inner section close to the insideface of the wall, drapery rods or curtain rods may be accommodated atthe usual height.

The extension portions joining the outer and inner sections fittelescopically and the refrigerent conducting lines which pass throughthe extension portion accommodate extension and retraction of thisextension portion so that the unit may be used with building walls ofdifferent thicknesses.

The means for supporting the unit at the top of the Window will normallyvary in accordance with the nature of the building structure. In somecases, the unit may be supported through exertion of a clamping forcebetween sections accompanied by the supporting eifect of the upper sashof the window. In other instances it will be desirable to providevertical support [from the lower horizontal portion of the window frame.

Drawing description FIGURE 1 is a front elevation view of the improvedunit mounted in a double-hung, vertically-sliding sash Window;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view corresponding to one taken along theline II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partly-broken view of the unit; and

FIG. 4 is a partly-broken view of the unit.

Description of preferred embodiment Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, atypical exterior wall 10 below a roof having an overhanging ea've 12 isprovided with a window opening 14 containing a conventional double-hungwindow having a vertically movable upper sash 16 and a verticallymovable lower sash 18. The bottom and top of the window are generallydefined by the sill 20 and head jamb 22, respectively.

The air conditioner unit housing has a relatively wide, deep,upwardly-open, transverse trough generally designated 24. The troughaccommodates the exterior wall portion above the window with the outersection 26 and the inner section 28 of the housing being located onopposite sides of the wall. Both the outer and inner sections includeextension portions which telescopically connect the sections to providea conduit through which the necessary refrigerant conducting lines andthe electrical power lines run from one section to the other. Theseextension sections are preferably co-extensive in width with the innerand outer sections.

The extension section 30 of the outer section comprises aninwardly-projecting portion at the level of the lower edge of the outersection, while the extension portion for the inner section comprises adepending, relatively shallow portion 32 at the rear of the main portionand then an outwardly-projecting portion 34 which telescopicallyreceives the open inner end of the outer extension 30. The horizontalportions 30 and 34 of the extension sections are located closely upagainst the head jamb 22 to occupy a negligible area of the windowopening when the unit is installed.

While the housing may be supported in various ways in its installedposition, the currently prefered way illustrated is to clamp the housingabout the wall in the fashion of a C-clamp. Hence, a series ofhorizontallyextending ridges 36 are provided on the face of the outersection 26 which abuts the exterior wall face to increase the frictionalengagement. With the connection between the extension sections securedto prevent relative linear and rotational movement between the sections,the outer section is drawn toward the building wall by means ofadjustable screw members 38 turned into contact with the inner face ofthe building wall 10. Additionally, for some installations, a pair ofposts or stanchions 40 may be used as supporting columns for theunderside of the housing with their bottom ends supported by the sill20.

The general arrangement of the interior components as related to thestructure of the various sections of the housing is illustrated in FIGS.3 and 4. It will be understood that the showings are not complete in thesense of illustrating all details of structure, since many of thedetails are of little consequence to the invention.

The outer section 26 contains a refrigerant compressor 44, condenser fan46 driven by motor 48, and a diagonally-disposed condenser 50. The airflow through the section may be from side to side as shown by the arrowsof FIG. 4.

The main parts of the refrigeration system and room air moving assemblyfound in the main portion of the inner section, which main portion is ofsubstantial depth in a front-to-rear direction, include the refrigerantevaporator 52 connected by a pair of refrigerant lines 54 to thecompressor and condenser in the outer section, and a pair of room airfans 56 driven by motor 58. Room air is drawn into the inner sectionthrough an inlet grille 60 and air filter 62 at the bottom face of theinner section. The room air then passes up through the fans 56 and isforced out through the evaporator at the room face and outlet grille 64.The directional arrows of FIG. 3 indicate the air fiow path through theinner section.

A drip pan assembly 66 underlies the evaporator 52 to collect condensatewhich is passed through conduit 68 extending down through the verticalextension 32 of the inner section, and then out through the horizontaltelescoping sections 30 and 34 to the outer section 26. The condensateis there either picked up through known means and flung against thecondenser, or is simply allowed to drain out of the outer section.

It will be noted that the refrigerant lines 54 (only one shown) have agenerally hairpin shape in the extension sections 30 and 34. This shapeserves as an extensible portion to accommodate moving the inner andouter sections relative to each other without damaging the refrigerantlines.

Each of the extension sections is of generally rectangular cross-sectionwith the outwardly projecting horizontal extension 34 of greatercross-sectional area so as to accommodate the slightly smaller areaextension section 30 of the outer section. Accordingly, thesetelescopically related sections will accommodate moving the inner andouter sections relative to each other for the particular wall thicknessinvolved. The relatively narrow side walls of these telescopic sectionsmay be provided with holes 70 at intervals therealong so that pins 72may be inserted to maintain the spacing between the inner and outersections at the approximately correct distance. It will be appreciatedthat the telescoping sections should be suificiently rigid that theturning moment imposed by both the inner and outer sections does nottend to widen the spacing between these sections at the top.

A number of advantages are available from the mounting disposition ofthe unit as shown. The inner section receives and discharges air from anelevated location in the room in accordance with preferred practice forair conditioners. The configuration of the inner section with itselevated inner section and thin depending section 32 accommodates theuse of draperies without serious interference from the housing since thelower face of the main portion exposes enough of the head casing forsecuring the draperies. The extension sections take up little of thewindow space and accordingly provide only slight obstruction to vision.The location of the ouside section up under the eaves shelters itsomewhat from weather and in some instances makes it less obtrusive. Themounting does not necessarily interfere with opening of the lower sash18. The exterior screen for the window may be modified only slightly inits top portion and be used while the air conditioner is in place. Wherethe overhanging cave is available, the outer section is also shaded to asubstantial degree for better performance of the unit. By using therelatively massive outside wall as a sound barrier between the noisegenerated in the outer section and the inside of the room, the noiselevel of the unit as a whole is reduced to a greater extent than wherethe outside section is separated from the inside of the room only by awindow sash, which sometimes operates as a sounding board.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a building structure having an exterior wallprovided with a window opening therein and a vertical wall portion abovesaid window opening, a unit air conditioner including:

a housing having an outer section, and an inner section, adapted to bedisposed on the outside and inside, respectively, of said wall portionabove said window, each of said sections including lower,horizontally-disposed telescopic sleeve portions adapted to mate witheach other at the top of said window opening,

said inner section including a main portion of substantial depth in afront-to-rear direction having its lower face above said top of saidwindow opening so that drapery fixtures can be accommodated below saidlower face at a head casing height of said window, said inner sectionincluding a relatively shallow extension portion depending at its rearclosely along the interior face of said wall to join saidoutwardlyprojecting horizontal sleeve portion.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein:

means carried by said inner section adjustably movable into engagementwith the interior face of said building wall for clamping said airconditioner to said wall.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein:

said main portion of said inner section includes room air inlet means insaid lower face and conditioned air outlet means in its front face.

4. The combination of claim 1 including:

a refrigeration compressor and condenser in said outer section;

a refrigeration evaporator in said inner section; and

refrigerant conducting lines extending through said depending extensionportion and said sleeve portions, said conducting lines including anextensible portion in said sleeve portions space to accommodate a rangeof spacing between said inner and outer sections.

5. The combination of claim 2 wherein:

said outer section includes means on its face abutting said exteriorwall for augmenting the frictional engagement between said outer sectionand said wall.

6. A unit air conditioner for mounting at the top edge of a windowopening in a building structure, including:

a housing having an outer section, and an inner section,

said outer section including a lower edge, inwardlyprojecting extension,said inside section including a rear, depending and thenoutwardly-projecting extension telescopically mating with said outerextension, whereby the main portion of said inner section has a lowerface substantially above the lower face of said outer section, saidsections as assembled defining an upwardly-open trough therebetween to'5 accommodate said building structure wall above said window opening:

a refrigeration compressor and refrigerant condensing means in saidouter section;

a refrigerant evaporator, and fan means for inducing a flow of room airthrough said evaporator, in said inner section;

refrigerant conducting lines extending through said extension sectionsto join the refrigeration producing components in said inner and outersections, said conducting lines being adapted to accommodate a range ofspacing between said inner and said outer sections; and

means for securing said inner and outer sections to said wall structureabove said Window.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Kramer 62-285 Hull 62-262Eberhart 62-262 Knight 62-262 Bauman 62-262 Copp.

US. Cl. X.R.

